Representatives of NGOs, government and police officials gathered yesterday at the National Drug Prevention Institute to discuss recent legal and financial controversies about harm reduction services in Hungary.

The European Network on Drugs and Infection Prevention in Prisons (ENDIPP) organized its 8th Annual International Conference on Drugs and Infections Prevention in Prisons “Unlocking potentials – Making Prisons Safe for everyone” in Budapest, Hungary on July 7 – 9, 2005.

The main theme of the 48th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs was HIV/AIDS prevention among drug users. However, none of the adopted resolutions mentioned harm reduction or syringe exchange. Two reprepresentatives of HCLU participated as members of the OSI delegation, read their short report on the event.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU, www.tasz.hu ) lost the first round of a landmark Freedom of Information case decided by the Budapest Court on Monday, the 24th of January, 2004. In November, 2004, the HCLU appealed this decision to the Hungarian Constitutional Court, from which it is still awaiting a decision. HCLU also requested that the Budapest Court release the petition of Csaba Hende, Member of the Parliament, in order to shed further light on the government’s involvement in the Court’s decision making process. The Constitutional Court refused to release this petition. HCLU responded by filing a Freedom of Information case with the Budapest Court.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union informed the EMCDDA that there was an error in its Annual Report (released on 25 november, 2004). In its reply to HCLU EMCDDA acknowledged the mistake and promised to correct it in the online version.

The EU Commission launched a public consultation on the new EU Action Plan of Drugs (2005-08). HCLU and a couple of Central-Eastern European NGOs answered the call and sent a proposal to the Commission in which they evaluate the implementation of the previous drug strategy and set up new guidelines for a new EU drug policy.

BUDAPEST 13 December 2004 - The Constitutional Court of Hungary in a 7 to 2 vote rejected the proposals claiming that drug laws that punish possession of drugs for personal use are unconstitutional. The Court accepted another proposals’ argumentation against certain forms of diversion treatment. According to the resolution, nobody has a right to be high, therefore criminal prosecution against drug users is not unconstitutional.